Easter- the Christian celebration of God’s resurrection April 6, 2009

The last week of the Lent which precedes the celebration is the Grand Week, which starts with the Palm Sunday (the celebration of Jesus’ entrance in Jerusalem) and ends with Easter Sunday.

The Grand Week has the role of sharing Jesus’ torment. In that week the 40 day Lent finishes and nature is revived. On the Thursday of the Great Week, the bells stop ringing, they will ring again only on the Grand Saturday. This marks the beginning of Jesus’ torture.

The History of Easter

Easter was celebrated for the first time around 1400 B.C. On that day the Jews left Egypt with God’s help. The scripture Exodus of the Old Testament shows us the instructions given by god for celebrating Easter, during Moses’ time. The Jews from Antiquity remembered that God saved them from the slavery they endured in Egipt.

Easter Traditions

The Old Saxons celebrated the coming of the spring by paying tribute to the Godess of spring, Eastre .During the second century, Christian missionaries came within the Nordic tribes, with their pagan rituals, and tried to convert them to Christianity. They made it, but only to some extent. For the new Christians, the interdiction of keeping their old pagan celebrations would have meant death. To save lives, the missionaries decided to make their message heard slowly, permitting the pagan rituals to be performed, but in a Christian manner.

The Grand Week of Easter

During the Grand Week, housekeepers make a general cleaning.They sweep the court yards, they repair the fences, they wash the curtains and the furniture, they scrub the floors and clean the whole house, clothes and carpets.
Several things are celebrated on the great Thursday: Jesus washing the Apostles’ feet, the Last supper, the Ghetsimani prayer and the catching of Jesus by the ones who wanted to kill him.

Christian symbols in relation to celebrating Easter

The cross symbolizes the Crucifixion, the opposite of the Revival. In 325, Constantine ordered that the cross should be the official symbol of Christianity. It is not only the Easter symbol, but it is also used by the Catholic Church as a symbol of faith.

Easter rituals in Romania

In Bucovina, the girls go and wash the bells with clean water.With this water they wash afterwards to be beautiful all year round and to be ran after by boys just like people run towards the church on the night of the Resurrection.

The Easter Bunny

The presence of the rabbit in Easter Tradition is due to pagan rituals and divinities worshiped in times long gone. The cute animal is considered to be a symbol of fertility. An old legend says that the Goddess Eostre found a wounded bird, one winter, on the field. To save it from a certain death, the goddess turned it into a rabbit, but preserved it’s capacity to lay eggs.

Irina and kids from School 92 Bucharest

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6 Responses to “Easter- the Christian celebration of God’s resurrection”

One of these days I will go to Romania at Easter to eat all the goodies shown in your post. Maybe I will meet the Easter bunny too. Who knows?
There was the same tradition in France for the Easter period in the countryside: everybody would clean their houses and wash the bed covers and linen to welcome the arrival of better weather. The houses were aired and you could see all cutains hanging down the windowsills. That was called “le grand ménage du printemps”.
Marie-France

In Italy we call them,” le grandi pulzie di primavera”! Yes , we have the same tradition or at list we had. Nowadays you don’t so often hear the housewive to mention them. Maybe because the way to organize our homes is a little changed. The Bucovina tradition about the washed bells water used by girls to make themselves desirable for the boys is very impressive!
When is your Easter this Year?
Gina

Thank you both, Marie-France and Gina. It’s nice to see the resemblances!
Marie-France, you are always welcome! As well as any of our partners!
Gina, our Easter is on the 19th of April.
Happy Easter to you!
Irina

Oh Dear!
We’re following us through the blog!
So only one week of difference between your and our Easter this year!Have you prepared your PASCA and have you painted your eggs yet? I suppose you’ll take your holidays in this week?
Have a wonderfull Easter!
GINA

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